ZELENSKY'S PLANE NEARLY HIT BY DRONE LEAVING MOLDOVA, NORWEGIAN PM SAYS

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's aircraft narrowly avoided being struck by a drone whilst departing Moldova on Tuesday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere stated on Wednesday. The plane was travelling to Oslo, where Zelensky attended the funeral of Norway's King Harald V. Stoere disclosed the information to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK but did not specify his source or indicate how close the drone came to the aircraft. A Moldovan government spokesperson later confirmed the incident on Wednesday, describing it as involving a Russian drone that struck Moldovan territory before Zelensky's departure.

Arrivals and departures at Chisinau airport in Moldova were suspended temporarily on Tuesday after two Russian drones entered Moldovan airspace. Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 showed several flights bound for the capital were diverted to airports outside Moldova or held in holding patterns. One drone landed in a field and caught fire, whilst the second continued into Romanian airspace. Moldovan authorities closed the country's airspace in response to the drone alert, subsequently clearing Zelensky's aircraft for take-off once the threat had been established as contained.

During his time in Oslo, Zelensky held discussions with Stoere and met with defence industry executives to advance a European anti-ballistic system designated FREYJA. In a social media post, Zelensky stated the meeting addressed dividing responsibilities between governments and defence companies to produce initial results from the programme. Ukrainian regional officials reported that at least eight people were killed in Russian attacks on Wednesday across multiple locations, including areas along the Ukraine-Moldova border and in the southeast.